Dating Your Way In Love

Okay... for all of you dating, engaged, married people out there or even thinking about dating people... so everyone? Check out this website that I stumbled upon today!

It's called The Dating Divas. It's a website that is devoted to marriages. Okay, so I said it is for all people, because it is since it has really good date ideas! It's main purpose is "strengthening marriages, one date at a time." However, I truly believe anyone and everyone could benefit from this site!
The Dating Divas is a group of women that blog on different aspects of marriage and different dating ideas. They have fun things like dates for two or four or more. Some dates names include "The Newlywed Game" and "Sherlock Holmes Date!" Fun things! They also have ideas for birthdays and anniversaries for your loved one. 
I really just wanted to share this beautiful gem that I found. I knew more people besides Jordan and I could benefit from it! I hope to use this site in the near future! ;)
Another little idea fun dating idea I saw on  a blog that I follow called "Life in the Green House." It is such a precious little blog and by little, I mean way bigger than mine! Jennifer posted the idea of the dating jar. 

It is essentially date nights ideas in a jar. She has written date night ideas on painted wooden craft sticks to be able to draw out and give her and her spouse a spur of the moment idea for a date. It may seem kinda easy-peasy to do this, but I really like HOW she did it. Of course, she made it look cutesy. I approve! Second, she color coded the sticks according to the involvement required to do the date meaning the cost and any necessary pre-planning. I thought that was extremely smart. Third, she gave a list of date night ideas - now that helps tremendously! I am going to make one of these for Jordan and I to use... and of course, I'll share my finished product! Exciting!!
Now go on a couple dates with the person you love most,

For the Love of Friends

I had to blog about this weekend because it was so friend-filled and fun-filled that I want to remember it forever!

Sarah W. came in to town for the long weekend since she had President's Day off at work. Let me tell you, we were all jumping for joy. However, we kept Sarah W.'s trip a secret from Sarah B. in order to surprise her when we took her out for dinner for her birthday on Friday. So just as Sarah W. arrived in town, her and I headed over to Sarah B. and Allison's place to meet them, Kari, Abbie, and Hannah. As I honked on my arrival, I noticed all the girls were looking out of Allison's bedroom window so Sarah W. decided that it would be best for her to stay in the car to keep the surprise going...

I hopped out of my car to go meet the girls up in their apartment. They were all headed down the stairs... as we  turned around and stepped foot into the parking lot, Sarah W. jumped out from behind the car and and Sarah B screamed at the top of her lungs! We got her! Yay!! Sarah B was surprised. She was so so happy. She had told Allison earlier that week that she just had wanted Sarah W. to come and visit for her birthday. It was so much fun! We all jumped in the cars and off we were to go to Neighbor's Place but it was jammed pack so we decided to eat at La Fogata, a little Mexican restaurant down the street.

Dinner was served and the conversations were flowing. We had such a blast. We talked about everyone's Valentine's Day adventures and just catching up. We then went to Bloop, a new yogurt place down the street, for dessert! Of course it was delish but they didn't have mochi... my favorite topping so I was a little sad. We went over to my place to hang out afterwards and Bre met us there too!

Saturday morning, Sarah W. and I woke up and headed back over to Allison and Sarah B's place to meet them and Abbie for a pancake party hosted by Allison. We talked weddings and fun things since Sarah B is engaged! We had delicious chocolate chip pancakes and coffee. Then the Sarahs, Allison, and I headed off to Target to do some shopping. I was hoping to find a swimsuit but I didn't have such luck. Sarah W. got a a super cute suit and Abbie had gotten one there a few days earlier. I tried on a bunch but nothing was successful. However, I did get a pair of black boots at Rack Room for under thirty dollars so I was quite excited!

Then we headed our separate ways and Sarah W. and I went home to clean up and shower. Jordan finally came back home after some golfing. The three of us headed of to Jersey Mike's to meet Tyler, Allison, and Max for some good ole sub sandwiches, Mike's Way, of course!

We then were off to the last home hockey game of the season against Central Oklahoma. We met Lauren, Paige, Sarah B., and EJ there too! Oh my gosh, it was so good to catch up with Lauren and Paige. Although, I do get to see Paige every week... it's not enough of the twins! Sarah W. hasn't gotten to see them in a while so I think it was fun for them to be able to catch up. Of course, we watched a little bit of hockey too! There was one HUGE fight where everyone on the rink was down on the ice. It was so fun! The referees were not even stopping it for awhile since it involved everyone. Don't you love hockey?

Sarah, Tyler, Jordan, and I went back to our place to hang out for a bit until Sarah left to spend the night on the dorm with Kari and Bre. Jordan and I decided to sleep in and do a bible study at home since we had been up so late the past few nights... plus it was supposed to snow!! I went out while Jordan as still sleeping and got us some Sweet Stella donuts... I woke him up with the fresh smell of the sweets! So delicious!

Well man, did we ever get our snow! I drove out to go get Sarah from the dorm in the afternoon and the snow was sure falling! I'm not sure how many inches we ended up getting but it was definitely over four inches. It was so much! It was so beautiful!  All the girls ended up coming over Sunday night as well to hang out and watch some movies. We first popped in the movie Clueless! Oh how that movie reminds me of my childhood! I love it!

Jordan and Tyler showed up with some Domino's pizza for us and we scarfed it down! Later in the evening, Allison, Sarah W., Abbie, and I went on a snow adventure to the nearest gas station to get some goodies. The gas station ended up being closed so we then traversed our way back home and hopped in Abbie's little car. Sarah drove us to Kroger, since she is a northerner, to get some goodies. We spent some time in the store to pick out what we all wanted and we headed back home. Sarah B. came back over and we watched another movie called Snatch which is a British film with Brad Pitt in it. It is like a gangster comedy. So funny! School called Monday a snow day - so there was no school for anyone!!

Abbie and Sarah spent the night on Sunday. We all woke up and had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then after chilling for a little bit we decided it was time to go out. We met Sarah B., Allison, and Emily over at TJ Maxx to do some shopping. I was on the hunt for some swimsuits but there was nothing to be found! :( I did find my dad a couple little goodies... that I'm going to keep a surprise!

We all then headed to Chick fil a for some lunch. It was seriously packed tight in that place. Of course, it was absolutely delicious. We then headed to a RedBox to get a couple movies to watch - we picked out Bridesmaids and What's Your Number? We liked them both. They were funny! None of us had seen the What's Your Number movie and were pleasantly surprised about it!

Just as Kari was arriving to watch the Bachelor... we all jumped in her car to go get some Bojangles for dinner! Sooooo good! Soooo bad for you!! Then the Bachelor started. Bre showed up. Sarah then left for DC. :( We watched the craziness of the home dates. Wow!

It was surely an eventful weekend! Filled with so much joy and so much fun! I am truly blessed by all of these girls! love love love love! T minus 11 days and a good portion of us girls will be in Washington, DC visiting Sarah for the day! Can't wait!

The friendship continues for me as I am soon to head out to a much needed coffee date with Libby-loo!

Lucky Number Seven

Yesterday, Jordan and I celebrated our seventh Valentine's Day together! I can't believe it. Craziness! We have our own little traditions for this oh so fun day...

Let me start off by saying that Jordan "hates" Valentine's Day... He said it's just like another anniversary. However, I love it! I love being able to do things for him! Whether he actually hates it or not, he is VERY good at celebrating it.

Ever since our first Valentine's day when we were 15, I have made him some kind of sweet treat. I believe the first year was cupcakes! I have made a variety of things including cake balls, cookies, fortune cookies, and ice cream sandwiches... yes all homemade! It's been difficult but fun to come up with something new each year. 

Jordan's tradition is that he always makes our plans a surprise. I can't remember when this started... I'm not sure if it was from the beginning or if it has been for the last few years... but I know for sure all of our Valentine's plans during college have been a surprise. He is so good at it & he doesn't think so. I think it was freshman year that he picked up me and surprised me by driving to Roanoke to have a picnick on top of the Star mountain over looking the city. We spent the entire day in Roanoke at the mall, looking at puppies, drinking coffee, and just being together. Junior year, we went to go see Valentine's Day in Roanoke and had dinner at this fabulous restaurant down town. We also got coffee at that same little place. Last year, I woke up to a little scavenger hunt throughout the apartment to find all kinds of goodies that ended in us going to the grocery store to buy stuff to cook dinner together and watch a movie at home.

This year followed along with our traditions... baked goodies and surprises!

Monday night before I fell asleep, I set out my card for Jordan as well as his sweet treat on our counter top. This year I made loaded cookie bars with all kinds of goodies in it. I found the recipe on Pinterest from Pip & Ebby. I also decorated our bathroom mirror with goodies. He was getting up earlier than me so he was able to wake up to all the fun!

I had a group project meeting in the morning so when I left for that, Jordan got to work. When I got to my car in the morning, there was a note inside that rhymed... and told me to hurry home from my meeting so that Valentine's day breakfast could start. 

I came home to a beautiful arrangement of flowers and the cutest card that talked about my booty. There was a cute little mouse that bent over that said that I look really great from the rear! Jordan calls me booty since I have a rather large one. Who knows! 

with half of the donuts gone! soo good!

All of our candles were lit around the house and a fresh box of Sweet Stella's donuts were waiting for us to guzzle down! He got my favorite donut for me, Boston Creams. We sat and ate our donuts and turned the movie Valentine's Day on in the background.

I then decided to make my "bubbly love potion" drink which I also found on Pinterest. It was seriously simple to make and absolutely delicious! Jordan turned on some music and we danced a little!

Jordan had to leave at about noon for golf practice and to work on  project... but before he left, he sent me a facebook event invitation saying that I needed to brush up on my acey-ducey skills, which is one of our favorite games!

Once my hubby got home, we left and hopped in the car to go somewhere. I didn't know where we were going but we ended up at Walmart... he said that we were getting a couple things. He said we were picking out dinner for tonight. Jordan planned for us to make some homemade pizza, which is one of our favorite things to make together...

So we went around Walmart getting goodies for our pizza. We got some pizza dough mix, Italian cheese blend, Alfredo sauce, and a rotisserie chicken! When we made the pizza... we through some garlic and some basil on with it! It was absolutely delicious. Seriously good!!

When we were shopping for our dinner food, I asked Jordan why we went to Walmart instead of Kroger because Kroger is just down the street from our place. He said that we were getting a couple more goodies that Kroger doesn't have. We continued shopping around Walmart and Jordan said to pick out a movie... we picked out Wall Street with Shia LaBeouf and Micheal Douglas. It looked really good. I ended up falling asleep when we were watching it... it was a little slow but Jordan said it was good at the end! I wouldn't know!

Jordan directed us to the toy aisles were we found a Backgammon board for our Acey-Ducey game! We already had a travel version of the board but it just wasn't cutting it for our intense matches... so we got ourselves a new board! We were both super excited!

We got home from Walmart and made our delicious pizza and ate it by candlelight. Then we played a game of Acey-ducey in which he won... BUT he had ONE less piece than I did and we didn't realize until the game was over... so does that win really count? I don't think so.

Then Jordan had me open a little gift bag - it was filled with Sour Patch Watermelons because that's what we get every time we go to the theater... We had to have them for our big movie night at home! So we opened up a bag of the delightful watermelons and watched our movie!

It was an all over perfect little day. I love spending time with my Valentine! We had such a good little time together! 

A Little Bit of Caring

I finally started my leadership clinicals. I feel like we've been here forever already for this semester but it has not even been a month! It's crazy. The junior year students have already had like four clinical weekends though so I feel weird only have just having my first one!

I did two twelve hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday. Let me tell you, I was nervous to start back up again. I think we all were. Some friends and I were talking in my critical care class on Friday about how we were all nervous - it's silly since we've been doing this for so long. It was our last first-day of clinicals but then someone pointed out in class that our next first day will be our actual jobs! Craziness!

I had a really good time in the hospital this weekend. It was long but good. My feet ache - really it's my heels. I'm working on the Surgical Trauma ICU. One of my friends, Lauren, is working there as well so it's been really fun! The nurses are fabulous too. They are wonderfully helpful and so nice!

ICU nurses are typically assigned one to three patients depending on how critical the patients are. I was able to take care of one patient fully and then I helped my nurse preceptor take care of other patients with different tasks. For our leadership clinicals, we are supposed to be able to do full care of our patients with our nurse co-signing on things like our medications and assessments. We are pretty much on our own unless we need help!

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I spent the weekend assessing patients, giving medications, changing dressings, suctioning endotracheal tubes, leveling CVP monitors, checking nasogastric tubes, checking intake and outputs, and turning patients. I learned a lot. I was able to see new things all weekend which was great. I also was able to respond to a code blue with the charge nurse in which the patient survived after the CPR and defibrillation. It was neat to be able to see how the flow works in the hospital because we have been practicing running codes all day on Fridays in my critical care course. I was also to see some of the tasks that the charge nurse does which was cool to be able to see since as students we don't handle official paperwork.

Today, I put in two applications at different hospitals back home for their critical care graduate nurse internships! One of  their application processes closes this week and the other later this month, so hopefully I will be hearing from them soon! Keep my future job in your prayers, please!

Oh another big note! I ordered my graduation regalia today! I can't believe it!

Overall, I am glad to be back into the swing of things! I have five more of these double shift weekends left in the semester. My feet have to get used to it and so does my hubby ;)